The antimicrobial activity of aromatic diamidines was first reported in the 1930's. See Tidwell, R. R. and Boykin, D. W., Dicationic DNA Minor Groove Binders as Antimicrobial Agents, in Small Molecule DNA and RNA Binders: From Synthesis to Nucleic Acid Complexes, vol. 2, (M. Demeunynck, C. Bailly, and W. D. Wilson, ed., Wiley-VCH, New York, 2003), pp. 416-460. Since that time dicationic molecules have received considerable attention as potential new therapeutic agents. Despite these efforts, pentamidine, first reported in 1942, see Ashley, J. N., et al., J. Chem. Soc., 103-106 (1942), is the only compound from this class of molecules for which there has been significant human use. Pentamidine is currently used against primary stage human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), antimony-resistant leishmaniasis and also as a secondary drug for AIDS-related Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP). See Tidwell, R. R. and Boykin. D. W., Dicationic DNA Minor Groove Binders as Antimicrobial Agents, in Small Molecule DNA and RNA Binders: From Synthesis to Nucleic Acid Complexes, vol. 2, (M. Demeunynck, C. Bailly, and W. D. Wilson, ed., Wiley-VCH, New York, 2003), pp. 416-460. Pentamidine, however, must be administered parenterally, and causes potentially severe side effects. Further, drug resistance among parasites is emerging. Thus there continues to be a need for improvement in the art for additional compounds having desirable antimicrobial activity, whether against the representative pathogens referenced above or against other pathogens.